Rewind
by Just-Breathe401
Summary: A brunette head lifted upwards at the sound of Harry falling to his knees a few feet away. "Ello Harry. Took you long enough." Cedric Diggory said as he closed his book. (Takes place after the final task.)


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Don't ask how Harry got a time turner. I don't know anything.

* * *

He pulled his robes further around himself. It was freezing and dark and Harry should be sleeping but he _needed_ to know if it worked.

He passed the first row of trees into the forbidden forest and headed towards a certain clearing.

It was kinda like a hideaway for Harry when things got to be too stressful. It was beautiful with a small pond near the middle of the clearing and flowers surrounding was this one tree near the pond that was just perfect for sitting at. A circle of trees hid the clearing from immediate view and thick foliage made it difficult to get into. Even the animals mostly avoided it but Harry absolutely loved it.

Harry picked his way carefully as he recalled how he had first stumbled upon this place in second year after what Ron liked to call "the chamber incident".

He grimaced as he remembered all the awful nightmares that plagued his sleep afterwards. Getting a snide, and unnecessary, dressing down from Snape and more insulting comments from Malfoy, while on less then an hour of actual sleep, really took a toll on his already stressed mental state. So he escaped to the only place he could.

The forbidden forest.

He had made sure to steer clear of the area where he had run into Voldemort the first time and ended up walking a little further then he had intended. Finding the clearing after literally tripping over a tree root and rolling through a bush.

It wasn't his proudest moment, he'll admit. But, he supposes, it did turn out well.

He hasn't been here in over two months though since he'd been distracted by the Triwizard Tournament. And the odd notes he'd been getting.

He grimaced as he thought back to the notes. They started showing up near the beginning of the month and, at first, Harry had planned to ignore them but they kept coming and were always in Harry's own hand writing. They spoke of the horrors that awaited him the day of the final task. They mentioned Cedric's death and Voldemort's return and a lot of other things. But mostly it talked about how to keep Cedric alive.

Harry paused at the thick bush that stopped him from entering the clearing.

Should he? What if it was all a sick joke? What if everything he had done up to this point had been for nothing?

A few moments later Harry huffed and rolled his eyes 'Only one way to find out.' He thought as he pushed through the bushes.

The first thing he noticed was a small light glowing near the lake by the tree he usually sat at. He hesitated before walking closer, noting that it was actually a wand that was making the light when he had gotten close enough. Then he took in the person holding the wand. His breath hitched as he stumbled closer.

A brunette head lifted upwards at the sound of Harry falling to his knees a few feet away.

"Ello Harry. Took you long enough." Cedric Diggory said as he closed his book.

"It-It worked." Harry breathed out in shock.

Grey met green and Harry choked back tears.

Cedric smiled at him "Yeah, thanks." He said gratefully.

Harry blinked his eyes a couple times before huffing out a weak laugh "Please tell me this isn't a dream?" He nearly begged.

Cedric's expression softened "It's not." He assured.

Harry swallowed thickly as he crawled over to Cedric and hugged him tightly. The older teen didn't seem to be weirded out by Harry's actions as he hugged him back. He had technically just seen Cedric die after all. Or something that looked like Cedric anyway.

"I can't believe it work." Harry laughed again wetly.

Cedric hummed out an agreement as he brushed a hand reassuringly through Harry's hair.

...

**Three Weeks Before**

Cedric was walking out of potions when he felt something settle in his pocket. With furrowed brows he pulled it out, revealing a folded up piece of parchment with the words '_**Green house 15. Ten minutes. Come alone.**_' written on it.

Now Cedric probably should have just thrown it away, as his first thought was that it was from someone who wanted to try to get him to cheat in the tournament. But what held him back was that it was written with his own hand writing. Was someone trying to impersonate him? Was the note supposed to be found by someone else in order to trick them? What ever it was Cedric couldn't, in good conscience, ignore it. He had to go see for himself and maybe get this person to stop if it was meant to be a prank.

So ten minutes, and a few excuses, later he was waiting in green house fifteen. The green house was usually void of all people around this time as Professor Sprout only came in to feed or water the plants once every morning. He looked around awkwardly as he noted that he was alone. Nobody was here waiting for him. He decided to wait a few minutes but as time wore on he had a bad feeling.

Was _he_ the one getting pranked?

But the moment he had that thought he heard a small noise behind him. He spun around, wand in his hand, only to come face to face with Harry Potter. Or rather who he thought was Harry Potter. This version was older, by a few years at least.

Before Cedric could ask about it the other teen looked up from the chain in his hand, catching sight of him.

He paused before a brilliant smile graced his face "It worked! I mean I knew it would. But I just couldn't ignore the felling that something could go wrong but obviously it didn't as I'm standing in front of you. But it could have but it obviously didn't and I am rambling aren't I?" He cut himself off with a sheepish laugh.

Cedric furrowed his brows "Why do you look older?" He asked warily.

Older Harry grinned at him "Why Cedric. I'm from the future. And I'm here to save your life." He went serious at the end there "Tell me, do you now what a Golem is?" He asked seemingly at random.

Cedric frowned, save his life?, and nodded "Yeah, fake bodies created with magic right?"

Harry lit up "Oh good. I don't have to explain too much then."

"Explain what? And what do you mean you came back to save my life?" Cedric asked a little confused.

Harry's bright expression fell a bit "Ah, about that." He glanced away while he added quietly "You were killed by Voldemort during the final task."

Cedric's blood went cold "What?" He stared at him in shock.

"But don't worry! I have come back to keep that from happening!" Harry assured hurriedly.

Cedric shook his head "You can't just change things, can you?" Cedric was sure he read somewhere that time was a fickle thing and should not be messed with.

Harry gave him an odd look "Who said I was changing things?" He shook his head "No. I'm merely making things a little different."

"And how are you gonna do that?" Cedric wondered, slightly overwhelmed.

"And now we're back to the Golems!" Harry chirped brightly.

Cedric stared at him blankly so Harry sighed and told him "You're gonna switch with the Golem in the maze and it's gonna die in your place."

Cedric made questioning noise in the back of his throat "But how is that going to work? It would be obvious I didn't die if I am still in the maze."

"And that dear Cedric is where things get interesting." Harry tossed him a bracelet "This is a port key. It'll transport you to a clearing in the woods. Younger me will come by later and you two can use it again to get to the Potter estate. I would just make the port key take you there immediately but unfortunately you need someone with Potter blood to get in the first time you visit. It'll take way too long for mini-me to adjust the wards before the final task, besides I already have him doing something else."

"What about me? Everyone will think I'm dead right?" He questioned with a small bit of dread.

Harry nodded "Yeah, but hey, at least you won't actually be dead!"

"What about my parents? My friends? Cho?" He asked, albeit a bit belatedly, his thoughts whirling in his head.

"As I'm sure you already figured out, you'll have to go into hiding for a while." Harry suddenly looked nervous "I know it's selfish and a lot to suddenly ask of you but please. I can't stand losing anymore people."

He looked so beaten, vulnerable and just plain _tired_. Cedric wondered just how many people he lost that caused such a intense expression.

He was one of them, Cedric finally realized, his death had caused Harry so much pain.

"I-" He paused to take a moment to actually think about it.

In three weeks, he'll die. In three weeks, he'll either be hidden away safely or dead. In _three weeks_.

"I need to sit down." Cedric choked out as he fell to the floor.

Harry thankfully didn't say anything. Giving him the time he needed to freak out about everything.

"I die during the final task? In the maze?" He asked absently a few minutes later. Harry sat down in front of him.

"No. The Cup is a port key. We both reached for it at the same time and it brought us to a grave yard where one of Voldemort's goons killed you." Harry stated softly, almost hesitant.

Cedric nodded "Right. So I get killed by a death eater." His head snapped up as a thought hit him "What about you?" He asked.

Obviously the teen survived but how?

Harry grimaced "I don't think you'd want to know." He replied simply.

Probably, but if Cedric could try to-

"Don't." Harry interrupted his thoughts "It needs to happen. Believe me. If I could keep it from happening I would but all I can do is make it more tolerable for mini-me."

Cedric shot him a questioning look.

Harry grinned at him but his eyes were sad "Don't think too much about it." He then held out his hand "So? Will you trust me?"

...

**Present**

"When I first got those notes I thought they were a sick joke." Harry admitted quietly.

Cedric hummed "Yeah, I had a hard time believing it at first too." He agreed.

"I'm glad you trusted me." Harry said with a shy smile at the older teen.

Cedric smiled back at him.

"How could I not?"

* * *

I apologize for my horrible way of describing things. I just can never seem to get it right. Also, I have no plans to continue this, sorry, but if some one else ever wanted to expand on it, just message me ~

I got the idea of using a Golem from a different fic I'd read. I can't think of the name right now but I think it was a Harry Potter time travel fic too.

P.S I actually have another version of this story written down. Let me know if any of you would like to read it and I'll post it ^^


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